Managed to get a copy of New Order 808 acid remixes. Here is my review:

After being tucked away in Graham Masseys' Mums' loft for years, this remix of New Orders' 'Blue Monday' has finally found its' way onto vinyl en route to dancefloors around the world!

If you hear this on a club sound-system and you don't start dancing, cheering or gurning then seek professional advice!

Barneys original vocal and lyrics have been taken off, replaced by A Guy Called Geralds' hypnotic singing, accompanied by acid beats, liquid basslines, squelches and insane yelps - halfway through the tune you are likely to be wanting to get your hands on what it was Gerald and Graham Massey were on when they recorded this!

If you love acid house, and/or all things Mancunian, then you are going to love this!

Was an amazing party... it was the 8th annual Earthdance, a perfect time for an 808 reunion... and an oldschool reunion it was with Gerald, Graham, Darren, Andy and some of their family in the house. It was also a beginning - the first 808 State participation at Earthdance, the largest simultaneous dance party in the world!

To go with the Hawaiin theme of the night, Graham told me he had visited Hawaii - the 808 state - recently for 3 weeks! Maybe some Hawaiin rhythms and vibes are going to feature on the next 808 release????

During the night I saw a bit of Andy dj'ing and quite a lot of Geralds' set. The night flowed really well and from what I saw, their sets were really good and a packed dancefloor loved it! It was quite a young crowd and I think there were a lot of people having their first 808 experience... Gerald started off with 'Pacific' then played a lot of new stuff - tough house, breaks and techno, aswell as some acid and finished with 'Voodoo Ray' then a drum n' bass version of it... by that time the place was really going offl! Chika played the global peace track at the beginning of an amazing breakbeat set...

So, all in all, it was a night of high quality dance music - the music looked back a little, but was mainly looking forward.

Everyone I spoke to really enjoyed the party, including the dj's, despite the venue change from the much bigger Blue Rooms that unfortunately closed down recently.

And a massive thanks to everyone involved who made Earthdance Manchester 2004 - all the dj's, the staff of Vision Classix, Silky and Dry Bar, and sound engineers...

Earthdance is a party designed to get the whole world dancing and reflects the 'global state' nature of 808's music and vibe. So hopefully this is just the beginning of something special...

Right.. maybe I'm used to bigger/better things but I wasn't impressed, read on:

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Better late than never, a review and some piccies:

Got down to town for 10 and we had to wait outside for about half an hour, as they were still setting up inside got in about 10:30ish and butty/recca were playing a blend of piano numbers, nice to hear Expose - Tell Me Why and TNT Piano Please.

Tried to have words with the "sound engineer" they have there, who was less than helpful when asked if he could sort out the mid range and high end, he just shrugged and walked off

It got me thinking about the Hacienda Sessions night that is on next Sat, as there's no way I could possibly enjoy it with their sound system as is, and it was embarassing to say the least when 808 State and A Guy Called Gerald turned up. Dry - sort the sound system out.

Can't recall who was on after butty/recca, but he played a few tasty numbers inc Lil Louis - French Kiss, nice to hear that out

There were 3 or 4 mc's there and I thought they ruined 808 State's set, constantly announcing "808 state, manchester make some noise, it's 808 state" - yeah, we know - every fucking record, and to be told "raise your hands now" was a joke, we know the records like you do, we know where they break, where they peak, and when to put our hands up in the fucking air.

Miffed, yes. but thankfully they shut the f*** up for A Guy Called Gerald, who's set was a breath of fresh air to the night, and he played Phuture - Acid Tracks, and then mixed into it Phuture - We Are Phuture, amongst many, many other acid classics, in a full on 303 workout, with some live stuff too via a laptop.

As Gerald played the acid/harder edged stuff, I think he might have been better earlier on, as 808 were the peak of the night for most people, they might have been better suited in the last slot.